Hinge



D. HEYER March 7, 1961 HINGE Filed Nov. 10

INVENTOR. fio/v fln ae @Q/a MW ui u HINGE Don Heyer, El Monte, Calif., assignor to M and H Industries, Inc., Los Angeles, Calif, a corporation of California Filed Nov. 10, 1958, Ser. No. 772,759

7 Claims. (Cl. 16-129) This invention relates to hinges, particularly hinges of the type especially suited though not limited to use in the mounting of cabinet and furniture doors and the like.

In the manufacture of wooden cabinets, furniture and the like, Where it is common practice to install the swingable hinge plate on the door of the cabinet or other furniture piece for assembly to the door frame upon installation of the cabinets, or at a later point in the finishing of the furniture, as for example, in the mounting of a kitchen cabinet door upon a door frame, much time is consumed in determining proper alignment of the door and positioning of the supporting hinge plates prior to fastening thesupporting hinge plates to the frame. It is highly desirable therefore, in the face of present day high costs, to provide a hinge which simplifies the work of a mechanic in hanging kitchen cabinet doors and the like in the door frame with a minmum effort and without requiring costly skilled labor for such operations.

In accordance with the foregoing, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a novel hinge construction which has incorporated therein means for clamping the supporting hinge plate upon a supporting frame member preparatory to afiixing the supporting hinge plate to the frame. By reason of the novel association of clamping means with the supporting plate, the supporting plates of a pair of hinges may be readily initially clamped to the door frame'in positions approximating those in which the supporting plates will be aflixed by screws in the conventional manner. Following this the mechanic may view the door to determine its alignment with the cabinet in general as well as with adjacent doors, as circumstances may require, and adjustment of the placement of the door may be readily effected simply byloosening the clamp and shifting the door as may be necessary, following which the clamps may be retightened.

When the door has been appropriately positioned the normal securing screws may be driven without fear of the door inadvertently being shifted in its relationship to the cabinet as a whole.

More specifically, it is an object to provide a hinge construction of the type wherein a supporting hinge plate is adapted to be secured to the face of a door frame which extends between the inner and outer surfaces of the frame and wherein the hinge plate is provided with opposed portions adapted to lie adjacent the.

inner and outer surfaces of the frame, with one of the portions being provided with a shiftable clamp element adapted to engage the adjacent surface ofthe door frame so as to secure the clamp frame between the clamping element and the opposed portion of the plate.

Patented Mar. 7, 1961 e I i Advantageously, the clamping means of the invention may be in the form of a thumb screw or set screw threadedly carried by the hinge supporting plate, although it will be recognized that other clamping means may also be employed.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter be described or will become apparent to those skilled in the art, and the novel features thereof will be described in the. appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view in elevation showing a cabinet door secured in place as by a pair of hinges made in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section depicting the hinge of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is afragmentary View in section and on an enlarged scale as taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. i, and showing the cabinet door in broken lines in a fully open position; and I Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detailed view in perspective illustrating the hinge of the present invention as applied to acabinet door, and with the cabinet door partially open.

Like reference characters in the several figures of the drawing and in the following detailed description designate corresponding parts.

The hinge construction of the present invention is shown in Fig. 1 as being applied to a cabinet such as a kitchen wall cabinet or the like, including a cabinet body 1 having a door frame 2 on which is hingedly mounted a door 3, as by a pair of hinges 4, 4 made in accordance with the invention. Each of .the hinges 4 is identical in construction, and thus mated pairs of hinges are not necessitated.

Asmore particularly shown in Figs. 2 through 4, the hinge of the present invention includes a supporting plate 5 adapted to be connected to the frame '2 of the cabinet and a swingable plate 6 adapted to be connected to the door 3 of the cabinet. .The plate 5 comprises a flat member adapted to lie against the face 7 of the frame 2 which interconnects the outer surface 8 and the inner surface 9 of the frame 2. Adjacent the top of the plate 6is an outstanding flange 19 disposed normal to the plate 6 and having a terminal portion 11 projecting past the face 7 and engageable with the outer surface 8 of the frame 2, as is clearly illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4.

This portion 11 has a dual purpose, inasmuch as it constitutes a clamping portion on the one hand and provides a hinge pin support through which extends a pin 12 constituting means pivotally connecting the hinge plates 5 and 6 together. As best seen in Fig. 2 the hinge pin 12 preferably has a generally conical bearing section 13 and a stern section projecting through the clamping portion 11 of flange 10, this stem section being preferably staked or riveted over so as to connect the pin to the clamping portion 11.

Pivotally mounted on the conical bearing section 13 of the pin 12 is a flange 14 of the swingable hinge plates 6, this flange 14- projecting normal to the plate 6 and extending into underlying relation to the clamping portion 11 of the flange ll? of hinge plate 6.

As best seen in Fig. 2, the lower end of the conical bearing section 13 of pin 12 is preferably substantially flush with the lower surface of flange 14. Therefore, since the hinge plate 6 will normally be secured to the door with the flange projecting into the groove 15, the

3 flange 14 may be firmly seated on the bottom of the groove 15 to facilitate securing the hinge in place on the door, without rocking of the hinge about a pro jection formed at the base of the pin 12., as would occur were the conical end 13 not flush as aforementioned.

With the hinge plate 5 mounted as previously described, and with the swingable plate 6 secured to the inner face of the door 3, it. will be noted asparticularly shown in Figs. 3 and 4 that the flanges 10 and 14 of the respective plates 5 and 6 are adapted to project into a suitable recess such as a saw slot 15 formed in the inner face of the door 3 adjacent the hinged edge thereof,

so that when the door is closed the swingable plate 5 is provided with a flange 16 projecting normal to the plate 5 along its inner edge so as to lie adjacent the inner surface 9 of the frame 2. Clamping means in the form of a thumb screw or set screw 17 is carried by the flange 16 and is adapted to clamp the frame 2 betweenthe clamping portion 11 of flange Iii and the inner extremity of the thumb screw 17. As best seen in Fig. 2, the thumb screw 17 is disposed with its axis lying substantially on the plane of the clamping portion 11 of flange 10, so as to bedirectly opposed to the clamping portion 11.

In the installation of a door, as illustrated in Fig. 1, the door may be initially placed adjacent to the frame 2 and the supporting plate 5 clamped to the frame by the thumb screws 17, whereupon the mechanic may view the door to determine its position and if adjustment is secured to the door 3 by screws 20, one of which projects through a vertically elongated slot 21 in the plate 5. Accordingly, any further adjustment of the position of the door with respect to the door frame may be accomplished in either a vertical or a horizontal direction in a maner which is readily apparent.

After the hinge plates have been finally aflixed, the

thumb screws 17 may be removed if desired, or may be left in place to aid in securing the hinges in securely fixed relationship to theframe 2, and to serve as a means for retaining the door in place while the screws 18 and 20 are being removed, if it should later become necessary to remove the door.

While the present invention has been illustrated in connection with a hinge of the type which is particularly adapted for the mounting of doors on wooden cabinets it will be understood that the clamping feature of the invention is also applicable to hinges having other utility. Therefore, while the specific details of the present invention have been herein shown and described, changes and alterations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit thereof as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

I. A hinge construction comprising: a supporting plate adapted to be connected to a supporting member; a

swingable plate adapted to be connected to a swingable member; a flange on said supporting plate having a clamping portion projecting therefrom for engagement with said supporting member; adjustable clamping means carried by said supporting plate in opposed relation to said clamping portion for clamping said supporting member therebetween; said swingable plate having a portion 4, abutting said clamping portion; and a hinge pin connecting said clamping portion with said portion of said swingable plate.

2. A hinge construction comprising: a supporting plate adapted to be connected to a supporting member; a swingable plate adapted to be connected to a swingable member; a flange on said supporting plate having a clamping portion projecting therefrom for engagement with said supporting member; adjustable clamping means carried by said supporting plate in opposed relation to said clamping portion for clamping said supporting member therebetween; said clamping means and said clamping portion lyingon a common plane; said swingable plate having a portion abuting said clamping portion; and a hinge pin connecting said clamping portion with said portion of said swingable plate.

3. A hinge construction comprising: a supporting plate adapted to be connected to a supporting member; a swingable plate adapted to be connected to a swingable member; a flange on said supporting plate having a clamping portion projecting therefrom for engagement with said supporting member; a second flange projecting from said supporting plate in opposed relation to said clamping portion; releasable clamping 'means carried by said second flange and engageable with said supporting member in opposed relation to said clamping portion for clamping said supporting member therebetween; said swingable plate having a portion parallel with and opposed to said clamping portion; and a hinge pin extending through said portions for hingedly connecting said plates.

4.A hinge construction comprising: a supporting plate adapted to be connected to a supporting member; a swingable plate adapted to be connected to a swingable member; a flange on said supporting plate having a clamping portion projecting therefrom for engagement with said supporting member; a second flange projecting from said supporting plate in opposed relation to 'said clamping portion; a set screw threadedly carried by said second flange and engageable with said supportingmember for clamping said supporting member between said set screw and said clamping portion; said swingable plate having'a portion parallel with'and opposed to said clamping portion; and a hinge pin extending through said portions for hingedly connecting said plates.

5. A hinge construction comprising: a supporting plate adapted to be connected to a supporting member; a swingable plate adapted to be connected to a swingable member; a flange on said supporting plate having a clamping portion projecting therefrom for engagement with said supporting member; a second flange projecting from said supporting plate in opposed relation to said clamping portion; a set screw threadedly carried by said second flange and engageable with said supporting member for clamping said supporting member between said set screw and said clamping portion, said set screw extending substantially in the plane of said clamping portion; said swingable plate having a portion parallel with and opposed to said clamping portion; and a hinge pin extending through said portions for hingedly connecting said plates.

6. A hinge construction comprising: a supporting plate adapted to be-mounted on the face of a frame member having inner and outer opposed surfacesinterconnected by said face; a swingable plate adapted to be connected to the inner face of a swingable member; each of said plates having a flange disposed normal thereto; a hinge pin extending through and hingedly interconnecting said flanges; said flange on said supporting plate having an edge abutting one of said surfaces of said'frame mem ber; said supporting plate having a second flange opposed to the other surface of said frame member; and clamping means carried by said second flange and movable into engagement with said other surface of said frame member.

7. A hinge construction o :mprising: a supporting plate adapted to be mounted on the face of a frame member having inner and outer opposed surfaces interconnected by said face; a swingable plate adapted to be connected to the inner face of a swingable member; each of said plates having a flange disposed normal thereto; said flange on said supporting plate having an extension normal thereto for abutting said outer surface of said frame member; a hinge pin extending through said ex- &

References Qited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Stock July 6, 1915 North Apr. 3, 1945 

